Friedrich Paul Wittichen (1787-1844)
We have to make some assumptions for Friedrich Wittigen. His son Otto listed Friedrich Paul Wittichen and Charlotte Sophie Möller as his parents in the record of his 1878 Virginia wedding. Previous evidence showed Otto was from Montjoie. So, when I discovered a Friedrich Paul Wittigen (-gen being interchangeable with -ken/-chen) in 2002 at Familysearch.org, it was easy to assume he was Otto's father. With an age gap of 49 years, however, it is conceivable that another generation may exist. But, since I feel confident that this is the same family at a minimum and very likely to be Otto's father, I have made this leap of faith. Traditionally, Friedrich is said to have sent Otto to America to drum up business for Montjoie's wool industry. Only one scrap of info supports this tradition. First, Friedrich appears to have been named for Friedrich Paul Schloesser, a descendant of leading local wool manufacturer Johann Heinrich Scheibler's wife by her first marriage. One of Friedrich's brothers is also named for one of F. P. Schloesser's brothers (Matthias Bernhard Schloesser). There also appears to be a family relationship between the Wittichens and the Schloessers. This suggests a personal relationship between the Schloessers and Wittichens, with a potential for a relationship to Scheibler and possible managerial involvement in his business. It is a stretch, but it is all I have right now. The inclusion of Franz Emil Wittichen as a child is not expressly proven. However, I have found records of his children and grandchildren. I was able to identify his daughter-in-law, Ella Zappe Wittichen, and his four granddaughters by name in an old postcard now in my possession that had their picture along with the pronouncement of "Weinachten 1915", which means "Christmas 1915". Franz's birth also falls right in with Friedrich's other children and I believe online records said he was born in Monschau. At any rate, why would I have a postcard of this man's grandchildren if he was not my relative? On a final note, our visit to Monschau in 1997 was a disappointment in terms of locating any ancestral graves. Apparently, the town ran out of burial space in the 1880s or 1890s, so they exhumed all the old graves and reburied them in a mass grave on what is now private property outside of town. My parents, using my sister as a translator, received directions to the grave and believe they found it, but outside of an archealogical dig/re-exhumation, there was really nothing to see or to be gained factually. Also disappointing was that no one in the town had heard of the name of Wittichen. I have figured out much more about the various interrelated families and ancestors since then and would love to make a return trip some day. I know we would be more successful. Children |- |colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |'Children of Friedrich Paul Wittigen and Charlotte Sophie Möller' Gallery LargeFranzMedalFront.jpg|Front of medals earned by Dr. Franz Emil Wittichen, Freidrich's son, in the Franco-Prussian war - 1871 LargeFranzMedalBack.jpg|Back of medals earned by Dr. Franz Emil Wittichen, Freidrich's son, in the Franco-Prussian war - 1871 References *FamilySearch.org Category:Wittichen (surname)